


Live it Up

by kahzehaya



Category: Haikyuu!!, hq!! - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roller Derby, First Love, Hurt/Comfort, Internal Conflict, M/M, Oikawa x Iwaizumi - Freeform, Roller Derby, Slow Burn, character injury, iwaoi - Freeform, roller dancing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-05-07 19:51:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19216342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kahzehaya/pseuds/kahzehaya
Summary: Iwaizumi Hajime is head jammer for his local roller derby team, focused on winning this year's regional tournament, but soon finds himself distracted by the new children's skating coach, a boy his age with a wide smile and teasing personality that Iwaizumi can't pull himself away from.





	1. Chapter 1

If Iwaizumi had said he felt fine, he’d be lying.

His legs hurt, his back hurt, his shoulders hurt, god, his neck hurt the most, he was covered in bruises, and had tape wrapped around his left index and middle finger that was rubbing his skin raw.

_ All this from skating in a circle.  _ He thought to himself as he started to untie his laces. Countless drills of jumps and breaks had killed his knees, and he sat with one skate on and the other thrown off to his right, completely apathetic to how he looked to the rest of his team.

Practice had been especially rough on him the last few weeks. He felt the weight of his team's expectations crushing him. They had won regionals the previous year, and now were all hungry for high of victory once more. His head felt fuzzy as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with an equally sweaty arm. 

“How long are you planning on sitting there?” Matsukawa asked, handing Iwaizumi a scuffed up water bottle. 

Iwaizumi groaned audibly as he took the water bottle,

“Until my ass melts into this stupid rink.”

Matsukawa laughed,

“Too bad drama queen,” he said, “some new kiddie group booked the rink after us.”

“What?”

Matsukawa pointed over his shoulder towards the entrance of the rink and sure enough, half a dozen of what had to be 8 to 10 year olds were standing at the edge of the rink, staring down at the shiny wooden floor while each holding a pair of worn down skates in their tiny hands. They were shuffling around each other, waiting for instruction. Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow lazily in their direction while he untied his other skate and slipped into his normal sneakers.

“Is it just a learn to skate thing?” He asked.

Matsukawa shrugged,

“Eh, sort of, it’s like ice skating lessons but for roller skates. Less expensive than the real thing. Less dangerous too. My cousin does it, apparently it’s becoming pretty popular.”

Iwaizumi stood up and stretched his arms over his head, trying to twist out some of the overall pain he felt. He decided to himself that the moment he got home he’d be getting into a hot bath with plenty of epsom salt and spend about 20 years soaking until just  _ maybe  _ his muscles could recover. He cracked his knuckles and shook out his hands as he and Matsukawa walked out of the rink, past the group of children, to go meet up with the rest of the team. Maybe a few of his teammates would want to get dinner, and they could go to the cheap ramen place Iwaizumi liked, the one that didn’t charge you too much extra for more pork cutlets. 

As he was walking and daydreaming of what he would get to eat for dinner, he suddenly stopped short, almost losing his balance as he looked down and saw one of the kids for the roller skating lesson staring up at him, barely an inch away. He had black hair that was parted to avoid his dark blue eyes, which were locked on Iwaizumi so intensely he felt as if the kid was analyzing his soul. 

Iwaizumi stepped to the right to go around the gawking child, but the boy stepped to his left to match. Iwaizumi stepped back to his left and was mirrored again,

“... ‘scuse me,” he muttered, trying to dodge the kid, but each step he took was blocked by a kid that couldn’t have been more than 120 cm tall. Iwaizumi was seconds away from (gently) shoving him aside when the kid took in a deep breath and all but shouted,

“How do you go so fast?!”

Iwaizumi blinked, shocked by the sheer volume such a small, slender kid could make,

“My teacher won’t let me go that fast! He says it’s dangerous and I could hurt myself! I think I could do it though and—!”

“Tobio-chan!”

The child whipped around in an instant and Iwaizumi’s eyes darted up to find the source of who had shouted out and broken the young boy from his lock on Iwaizumi, and was slightly surprised when he found himself looking up at a boy his age,

“I’m so sorry about him,” he said, “he’s very enthusiastic.” 

Iwaizumi blinked in shock once again. The boy standing in front of him wasn’t at all what he had expected a roller skating coach to be. He had thought maybe it would be a stay-at-home mom or a retired grandma who was using her free time to keep kids busy while their own parents were at work, not someone his age. Iwaizumi did a quick glance and took in his tall and slender frame, with light brown eyes that matched his short hair that curled at the ends. He had a dusting of freckles across his nose, but what stuck out to Iwaizumi the most was his smile. A smile that was wide, bright, and surprisingly sincere. He looked back into the boy’s eyes and realized he’d been sitting in silence, waiting for Iwaizumi’s reply.

“It’s, uh, it’s alright. Sorry.” He mumbled, then watched him squat down next to the kid, Tobio apparently, and ruffle his hair while saying in a quiet voice,

“Go lace up, okay? Take the rest of the class with you, you can be line leader,” he smiled kindly, “you can do that for me, yeah?”

Tobio-chan nodded, looking slightly embarrassed from the weight of praise and responsibility now placed upon his shoulders. He gave one last stare at Iwaizumi, then scampered off, pulling the rest of his classmates behind him,

“They seem really like your skating and try to go just as fast. If I'm being honest I'm impressed too, but you have no idea how hard it is to manage a bunch of 10 year olds trying to go at max speed.”

Iwaizumi looked down at the boy and then to his left where he saw all the kids clumsily tying up their laces,

“Yeah… I,” he stuttered, “I can imagine.”

The taller boy stood and gave Iwaizumi a wave before walking after his class,

“Sorry again!”

Iwaizumi nodded and tried to say something in reply, but found his throat surprisingly dry. He couldn’t fathom exactly what made him freeze up so solidly in the presence of that boy, it had to be the height. Iwaizumi was taller than average, but the other boy must've been at least 180cm, it made Iwaizumi feel short in comparison, a feeling he didn't often get. He took two large gulps from his water bottle as he strode to catch up with Matsukawa who was waiting outside the front doors, staring at his phone. He looked up when Iwaizumi pushed open the rusted door and raised as eyebrow,

“You alright? You look kinda red.” 

“What? No,” Iwaizumi said, “I’m just overheated. I think. Probably.”

Matsukawa took a beat to look him over in silence as if he was going to comment further, but instead shrugged and tucked his phone into his pocket,

“Drink some more water I guess. Do you wanna get dinner?"

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi responded, giving a short glance over his shoulder to the closed door behind him, “yeah, dinner sounds good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all like this!! I was originally going to wait until season 4 to publish it but I'm impatient and have bad impulse control :3c updates should be coming out every other friday. I'll keep the chapters short so between 1k-2k words.
> 
> Thank you sm to my best friend lu @luzumaki for helping me with this... ur my whole world, my angel, my everything <3
> 
> hit me up if you have any questions or just wanna talk!  
> twitter: @citgomode  
> tumblr: @kahzehaya


	2. Chapter 2

He felt eyes on him.

Someone was staring at him, watching him speed down the straights and tight curves of the rink, watching him push past the blockers, watching him cradle his elbow after slamming it into the inner wall, someone was watching his every move.

But each time Iwaizumi looked to his right, left, or behind him, all he saw was the gaudy wallpaper and tattered carpet of the roller rink.

It wasn’t until he full on body checked Hanamaki that he realized just how distracted the constant paranoia was making him. And no matter which direction he looked — he couldn’t find the source of his surveillance. The unexpected pressure chipped away at his skills piece by piece until he was making every mistake in the book, falling down, hitting other players on accident, running into the wall, and overall being unable to control his body. His coach finally called him out when he lost his footing and dragged Matsukawa down to the floor with him in an attempt to regain his balance. 

“You’re my best jammer,” said coach Mizoguchi, “I need you to give your best not only during a match, but during practice as well.”

“Sorry coach,” Iwaizumi said, tapping the brake of his left skate against the floor, “I’m off my game today.”

Mizoguchi raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms,

“Something happening at home? Your mom doing alright?”

Iwaizumi winced at his coach’s attempt to play the role of temporary therapist, 

“Everything is fine. Just out of it.” He said, then gave a half-smile to prove his own mental stability. It didn't work. The forced expression only made Mizoguchi’s nerves worsen, but he knew no amount of pressuring could get Iwaizumi to spill whatever was stirring him up on the inside. He knew he had the team, a support system that was always in his corner, but he took on the burden of dealing with anything emotional himself. Coach Mizoguchi gave him a final look down,

“Alright. Fine. Go get some water and try to refocus.”

The walk of shame Iwaizumi took past his teammates stung worse than any physical fall he had taken. They watched him from the corners of their eyes — not with judgement — but with a mix of confusion and pity which left a disgusting taste in between Iwaizumi’s teeth. He shot Matsukawa a glance in hopes to see his ever aloof expression, but saw concern, and then only saw red behind his own eyes as he threw off his skates and marched down the back hallway towards the bathrooms.

He didn’t need to be coddled, he’d never needed that. Nothing good would come from his team treating him like an infant, he thought to himself as he unscrewed the lid to his water bottle, drinking what little remained in one gulp. They shouldn’t be doubting him, did they not trust him? Even after everything they had gone through together? Every fucking thing he had done for them?

He all but slammed his fist down on the water fountain to begin filling his bottle. The sound of the old metal squeaking underneath the pressure of his hand rang out in his ears, and he realized how strangely silent it was in the back in comparison to the sharp noises of skates and his team’s yells that existed back on the rink. He felt like his nerves were sizzling at a high temperature, ready to ignite, but the limbo of muffled sounds and dim lights made him snap to reality. He let his eyes fall shut, took a deep breath in through his nose, and exhaled slowly through slightly chapped lips, counting to ten each time and letting his heartbeat slow as the water dribbled into his bottle. He was fine, just out of it, just having an off day, all he needed was a moment of peace and then he’d be back to his normal self. He’d gotten better at this. Controlling his anger.

“It’s nice to see you again.”

Iwaizumi’s eyes snapped open from their tranquility and watched in quiet frustration as he lost his grip on his water bottle and it clattered down into the fountain and slowly drained out what he had managed to fill it with. 

“Sorry!” Came the voice next to him, “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that.”

His two seconds of peace shattered and he whipped his head to the right with a sharp insult on the tip of his tongue ready to inflict the most verbal damage he could muster, calming breathing exercises be damned, but he stopped short when he saw a small plastic keychain dangling in front of him,

“Wha—”

“You dropped this the other day, fell off your bag I think. I found it when I was leaving.”

Iwaizumi’s eyes focused on the keychain in the dim light and realized it was in fact his, a worn down Mothra figure he had gotten from a gachapon machine years ago. Even in the lack of light he could see the bright oranges and yellows of the wings, and he gently took it into his own palm.

“I…” he ran a thumb over the two large eyes, “I didn’t notice. Thank you.”

“It’s no problem,” the voice said, and Iwaizumi finally looked up and saw the same smile he had seen from two days ago, only slightly smaller and somewhat more… personal. If Iwaizumi had had better light, he would’ve been able to see the glimpses of bashfulness that crossed the other boys eyes, “have a good rest of your practice.”

He turned smoothly and began walking away,

“Hey!” Iwaizumi called, “Are you watching me— I mean… us practice?”

The taller boy didn’t stop walking completely, he only slowed his pace and looked over his shoulder while flashing a peace sign,

“Yep! Looking great! But one pointer,” he smiled widely, “the goal is to not fall down!”

Iwaizumi pressed his tongue against his teeth, the words were rude, condescending even, they should’ve set him off. But the boy’s teasing smile made Iwaizumi’s scowl twist into a smirk, and he huffed out a laugh that the boy replied to by sticking out his tongue, then turning the corner and disappearing from Iwaizumi’s line of sight. 

By the time he had refilled his bottle and gotten back on the rink, his shoulders had relaxed and he was steady on his skates. He fell once more, catching himself on hands and knees, and while the team watched anxiously, expecting him to explode, Iwaizumi only laughed and then bounced back upright. Matsukawa rode up quietly on Iwaizumi’s left and gave him a firm slap on his back,

“Don’t mind,” he muttered before moving on by without a second glance, exactly how Iwaizumi needed him to be. No fluff, no pity, just a reminder of support without the whole ordeal.

He could still feel eyes on him, but he no longer felt such a hostile defensiveness in response. He looked all around him, to the skate rental counter, the snack bar, and the outdated arcade, but didn’t see the boy anywhere. Yet, the mystery of his whereabouts only pushed Iwaizumi to try harder at practice, he was working to impress someone new, though he was doing it subconsciously. He spent the rest of his practice at the top of his game, easily getting past blockers during their last few drills and proving to his team once again he was worthy of his position as head jammer. 

Of course he was, he took them to victory before, he’d do it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> giant thanks again to my best friend and editor @luzumaki!!! i love you more than life itself
> 
> I know i said updates every other friday but I got impatient with this chapter and wanted to see if it pulled in some more people! 
> 
> If you like the fic I would really appreciate sharing it around, this is probably the hardest ive ever worked on a story :P


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iwaizumi asks a few questions, then gets asked one big question

Iwaizumi didn’t think he had a best friend. Close friends, sure, he had the whole team he could pal around with, and he had friends outside the team too; classroom acquaintances he spoke with in passing and neighborhood friends he visited with his parents, but no best friend. There wasn’t anyone he could call at 3am to just talk to. He was okay with that, he thought to himself while he pondered the thought when he was enjoying lunch with Matsukawa and Hanamaki in the school’s courtyard. The weather was warm, humid, and the three were sitting with their blazers off and shirts rolled up to the elbows. None of them were saying anything, just sitting and eating quietly. Iwaizumi picked through his bento and finally broke the silence after eating a mouthful of rice,

“Do you know the guy who does the skating lessons for kids at the rink?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen him,” Maki said while chewing through a piece of sausage, “Why? You need lessons?”

“No,” Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, “I mean do you _know_ know him. Not know of him.”

“Oh,” Maki swallowed his food, “then no.”

They fell back into silence until Matsukawa spoke up,

“Iwa,” he said, “he went to middle school with us.”

Iwaizumi stared across Maki at Matsu while he shook around his iced tea to try and get the last few drops of it in his straw,

“What? I don’t remember him.”

“Probably because you were too busy daydreaming during class.” Maki said with a smirk, which quickly turned into a grimace when Iwaizumi punched his shoulder.

“... Anyway,” Matsu said as he watched the other two smack each other around, “he was always busy with lessons after school so no one ever hung out with him. He seemed pretty isolated.”

Iwaizumi stilled the fist that was balled up in the collar of Maki’s shirt,

“Do you remember his name?”

Matsu shrugged,

“No idea,” he tossed his empty cup into a nearby trash can, “but he was one of the few from our school who didn’t come to Seijoh. Probably goes to some private school.”

Iwaizumi let go of Maki with one last slight shove,

“You remember all that from middle school?”

“But he can’t remember his homework half the time.” Maki quipped.

“You really  _ do _ want to get beat up, don’t you?”

* * *

Another practice went by with the constant feeling of watched. But in contrast to the first time it happened, Iwaizumi didn’t feel bothered by it. If anything, it felt refreshing to have someone to impress. His teammates knew his skill, there was no need to impress them, but the new boy that had entered Iwaizumi’s life, he wanted to show off for him. Iwaizumi never had that thought directly, but his body moved on its own and he pushed himself almost to his limit at practice. He was panting while his lungs felt like they were on fire, he was burning on the inside with a reignited passion for his sport and he couldn’t have been happier.

By the end of practice he was covered in sweat and riding an adrenaline high that he hadn’t felt as a result of roller derby in ages. As his team left he stayed behind, waving Matsu off, while he went to the bathroom, wetting the small towel he kept on him and dabbing away at the sheen of sweat on his face. He looked at himself in the scratched and aged mirror of the bathroom and smiled, not entirely sure why he felt so ecstatic. His sneakers squeaked against the tile floor as he pulled a grey hoodie over his head and walked out of the bathroom. The only thing on his mind at that point was what kind of curry was his mom making for dinner, but he only made it a few steps down the hallway before he froze in place.

“Oh, hey.” He said as he saw the boy leaning against one of the walls. He looked like he was ready to leave as well, in a light purple jacket and white t-shirt underneath. He had headphones in, but quickly pulled them out when he saw Iwaizumi and gave him a soft smile. Something in his stomach twitched, but Iwaizumi pushed the feeling aside.

“Hi hi,” the boy said, lilting the words as he pushed himself off the wall to stand tall in front of Iwaizumi, “I wanted to ask you a favor.”

Iwaizumi felt another twitch, a pull in his stomach that he couldn’t assign a name to. It seemed like hunger, but hunger had never made him feel like he was seconds away from breaking out into a sprint in the opposite direction.

“Uh,” he said, doing his best to control his expression, “what kind of favor?”

The boy strung the wires of his headphones between his fingers while he spoke,

“Well… some of my students like to watch your team practice before we begin our lessons and have tried to… copy you, more or less,” he looked at Iwaizumi straight on and the shorter boy found himself almost hypnotized by his wide brown eyes, “I wanted to invite you to teach a class, just a few minutes to show them how to go fast without breaking any bones.”

Iwaizumi resisted the urge to tilt his head like a confused dog,

“Me?”

“No, the other top roller derby skater in the Miyagi Prefecture,” the boy teased, “yes, you.”

Iwaizumi huffed out a laugh,

“Yeah, alright,” he agreed, then stood silently for a moment before he realized, “wait. I don’t even know your name.”

The boy smiled and winked,

“Oikawa Tooru.”

“I’m—”

“Hajime.” Oikawa interrupted, “Oh! Sorry. Iwaizumi.”

Iwaizumi felt his cheeks grow hot at the sound of the other boy saying his first name. Had it always sounded like that; strangely soft around the edges? Or had it been the way Oikawa smiled when he said it?

“How do you—”

“You realize there’s posters all over the rink congratulating your team on their win from last years regional championship?” He smirked, “I only just started working here and I already know your name by heart.”

“I… thank you,” Iwaizumi shuffled his feet, “when should I…?”

“Tomorrow,” Oikawa said earnestly, a sparkle of excitement in his eye, “you don’t have practice on Thursdays, do you?”

“No, yeah, I mean,” he stuttered, “I can do tomorrow.”

Oikawa was practically beaming as he suddenly reached forward and grabbed Iwaizumi’s hand in his,

“Thank you so much,” he said, squeezing tightly, “this means the world to me.”

Iwaizumi was on fire, head to toe. It was just Oikawa’s hand grabbing his, just a tight grip of appreciation, but he immediately froze in place. His hand was smooth and soft in comparison to Iwaizumi’s own rough and calloused hands. His mind was blank and his face was red, so all he managed to do was nod curtly while Oikawa looked at him with an unwavering stare.

And as suddenly as it happened, Oikawa had let go and was walking away. Iwaizumi’s brain kicked back into gear and he reset himself. It was just a touch, physical touch. It happened all the time. His mom hugging him, his teammates giving him a high five or slapping his back, bumping into a classmate in the hallway, this was no different. He was fine, completely fine, just startled, that’s all. Fine.

“Sorry!” Oikawa called out as he left, “I have to go help get the kids set up.”

Iwaizumi nodded,

“Yeah. Uh. No problem, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Oikawa looked more than pleased, maintaining his broad smile,

“See you then, Iwa-chan.”

Oh.

He was  _ not  _ fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope yall are enjoying this!!! ive hit some writers block but im doing my best to push through it :P
> 
> also u should check out my twitter because i have a thread thats "hq characters as tiktoks" and i need people to laugh with
> 
> twitter: @citgomode  
> tumblr: @kahzehaya


	4. Chapter 4

Iwaizumi didn’t have siblings.

He’d grown up with just his mom at home, his dad flicking in and out of his life before vanishing completely. He wouldn’t argue that he was lonely for his childhood. He watched movies and read comics to pass the time and would occasionally go hunting for cicadas. He’d draw and color and be as energetic as any other young boy, but he did all those things alone. 

The first time his mom took him to the roller skating rink he ended up skating for hours. Shakily at first, his feet sliding out from underneath him, but his stubborn attitude refused to let him give up. He stayed practicing until he was being ushered off the rink by a loud voice over the speakers, and then watched with wide eyes as for the first time in his life he saw a roller derby team.

It was a women’s team and his mother quickly pulled him away from gawking, lecturing him on why you shouldn’t stare at girls all while he insisted he was only interested in the sport.

His mother bought him skates and he practiced alone. No siblings. Especially no younger siblings.

So when he was surrounded by a group of kids half his size, all staring at him, he didn’t know how to act.

He turned his head to look at Oikawa with a panicked expression, who only stifled a laugh behind his hand before clapping to get the kids’ attention.

“Alright! Everyone say hello to Iwa-chan,” he said, “he’s going to show us a few things today.”

“Hi Iwa-chan!” The group replied in unison. That was weird. Were they a hivemind? 

“Um, hello,” he said back, glancing around at their expectant faces.

“Give him some space, give him some space,” Oikawa waved his hands to get them to step back, “go lace up and put on your knee pads.”

The group scattered away to the wall of cubbies, grabbing their skates. Not thirty seconds passed before one shouted out,

“Oikawa-san! I need help tying my laces!”

Iwaizumi shot Oikawa a glare as they made their way over,

“Why do you get to be -san and I’m -chan?”

Oikawa shrugged but had a knowing smirk on his face,

“Your name sounds cute like that. People love cute, especially kids.”

Iwaizumi didn’t have time to think of a reply to hide his flustered face before Oikawa knelt down in front of a boy sitting in one of the chairs who had spiky black hair that stood straight up and began tying his laces, explaining each step in a calm voice. Iwaizumi hadn’t seen much yet, but he could tell from the way he spoke to the kids that he had a talent for teaching. He was always smiling and keeping their energy levels up with his own positive attitude. Iwaizumi was amazed by his skill.

A small tug came from the hem of Iwaizumi’s shirt and he looked down to see a short boy with wild orange hair,

“You’re really tall!” He said, practically beaming.

“Oh. Hi. Thank y—”

“Can you help me with my laces too?”

Iwaizumi nodded and looked further down to see the boy’s skates were entirely undone,

“Okay… uh,” he looked to Oikawa to mimic his actions, “can you sit on one of the chairs?”

The boy moved without hesitation and pulled himself into the bright orange, plastic seat and let his feet swing back and forth as Iwaizumi knelt down. Seconds in Iwaizumi realized this kid was a chatterbox with no off button.

“How tall are you? I’m 128cm but I’m going to get taller! I’ve seen you practice before, are you the captain of your team? I want to do roller derby too but I’m not old enough yet, I’m only eight. How old are you? Twenty-five? My mom is thirty-five and my sister is three!”

Iwaizumi half listened to the boy rattle on while he did his best to tighten his laces, his eyebrows coming together in frustration.

“It’s harder to do someone else’s skates than your own,” Oikawa said, kneeling down and peeking over Iwaizumi’s shoulder, “you missed a loop.”

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled when Oikawa’s breath passed over his ear and he fought to suppress a chill that threatened to rise up the base of his spine.

“My bad,” he mumbled, fixing his mistake.

“Hinata, did you say thank you to Iwa-chan?”

Hinata shook his head,

“Thank you Iwa-chan.”

Iwaizumi couldn’t help but smile at that,

“No problem,” he finished tying his laces, “not too tight?”

“Nope!” Hinata said before he jumped down and skated past Iwaizumi and Oikawa without a second glance.

“Kids are weird,” the taller boy said, standing up straight and offering a hand to Iwaizumi,

“Should you be saying that as their teacher?” He replied, taking his hand and letting himself be pulled up, ignoring the part of his brain that wanted to analyze the feel of Oikawa’s soft hand again.

“It’s in one ear and out the other with them.”

Iwaizumi checked over his own laces and knee pads, wanting to be a good role model, before stepping onto the rink, followed by the kids and then Oikawa. He stood awkwardly, not sure what to do while they all stared him down for a second time.

“Hi…” he cleared his throat, “Um, so basically to go fast you uh, build up speed.”

Silence. Oikawa raised an eyebrow and tried not to laugh. 

_ I guess that part is obvious…  _ He thought to himself

“It’s mostly about weight distribution and your center of gravity.”

The focused stares turned into blank ones the second the words were out of his mouth. A little girl with blonde hair timidly raised her hand,

“Um, what’s—”

“What’s center of gravity?” Hinata shouted over her. The girl looked both mortified and relieved. 

“It’s like… just your center, I guess?” Iwaizumi said, unsure of himself, wait, had he ever actually been told what his center of gravity was? He froze in place and tried to pick out a memory of the definition of the term meant, only recalling yelling coaches.

Oikawa clapped a hand on Iwaizumi’s shoulder and broke him from his daze,

“Why don’t you show us?” He said with a smile, but underneath it Iwaizumi could tell he was laughing. 

He rolled his eyes in reply which got a wink out of Oikawa before he pushed himself away in one smooth motion and began skating. He let himself crouch down and did two laps, swinging his arms at steady rhythm and kicking his foot out before bringing it around and transferring his weight to the other skate. He wasn’t going at top speed at all, but when he slowed to a stop the class was looking at him with stars in their eyes. Oikawa also looked impressed, and nodded at him before turning to his kids.

“So, staying low is the first thing, yeah?” He bent his knees and dropped his weight in the same exact way Iwaizumi had done only seconds ago, and waited for the class to follow his lead, “And push your feet like I taught you a few days ago, but swing your foot around in a biiiig circle before pushing off again.”

Iwaizumi stood to the side while Oikawa went around and checked each child’s form, making small adjustments here and there, using a positive tone even when criticizing them, before sending them off on a test run. At first they wobbled, adjusting to the new position, but soon Iwaizumi was watching it click in their minds one-by-one and they began to pick up speed. 

Oikawa did a few laps with them, giving pointers and words of encouragement before skating over to stand at Iwaizumi’s side,

“I usually let them go crazy for a bit,” he said with a snicker, “they tire themselves out on their own.”

Iwaizumi watched them go in circles, impressed on how quickly they all picked it up. He couldn’t remember if it was that easy for him.   

“Thank you for doing this, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa continued.

“Oh, well, I didn’t do much. Not anything, really.” Iwaizumi scratched at his arm nervously,

“I told you it would only take a few minutes of your time,” he pushed himself off the wall and skated backwards so he could continue to talk to Iwaizumi, “you were the perfect reference and your face is  _ just  _ scary enough for the kids to listen to you.”

“Hey!”

“I’m joking, I’m joking,” Oikawa laughed, “your face is perfect.”

Iwaizumi felt blood rush to his face as he fought to keep his cool,

“Damn right.”

“Language, Iwa-chan!” 

 

***

The phrase ‘sweet young man’ wouldn’t stop ringing in his ears. 

Oikawa spoke to almost every parent that came to collect their child, and as they left they would all say the same thing,

“What a sweet young man!”

And or,

“He has such a way with kids.”

Oikawa made every kid smile before they left, giving out high fives, and then making the parents smile by giving a rundown of what they did that day to the parents, always making sure to bring up a positive point specific to each child. He had a way with words, with making anyone feel good about themselves. His compliments were personal and tailored to each individual, never repeated exactly, said with a smile and sometimes a handshake that said ‘I care about you personally.’

Iwaizumi sat off to the side and pretended to be busy with his skates and knee pads until the parents had gone. He wasn’t one for small talk.

Finally the rink grew quiet and Iwaizumi looked over his shoulder, opening his mouth to say something, but stopping before any words could come out. Oikawa was sitting on the same chair Hinata had sat in at the beginning of practice, but he did not have the same energetic aura the young boy gave off. He didn’t give off an aura at all. He had his head tilted back, eyes closed, with his shoulders relaxed and his arms laying loosely in front of him, tenderly gripping a purple water bottle. His mouth wasn’t a frown, but it wasn’t one of his smiles either. He slowly opened his eyes, looked at the high ceiling, and Iwaizumi saw him take in a deep breath, then let it out, his chest stuttering in the middle. He stared up for another moment before his eyes shifted and locked with Iwaizumi. His expression changed instantly, not in a panicked manner, but as if he had a light switched back on inside him. He smiled contently, eyes soft, alive,

“Ready to go? I have to lock up behind us.”

Iwaizumi nodded, unsure of what he just witnessed. It looked like he may have been meditating, like his mother would do when she was stressed, but he’d never seen his mother look… blank.

Iwaizumi waited patiently by the front exit as he watched Oikawa lock doors and flip switches to off. He had never seen the rink completely dark before, it looked almost like it was abandoned. It was no secret it was an outdated facility, built in the 70’s when the craze was at its peak, and then slowly forgotten over the years. Seeing it without the lights, the tacky decorations, the flashing of the arcade games… Iwaizumi felt like he was looking at bones.

“Creepy, huh?” Oikawa spun his keys on his index finger, “Do you believe in ghosts?”

Iwaizumi snorted and punched him in the arm,

“Don’t try and fucking scare me, let’s go.”

“Oh, so you do! What about aliens?”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and all but shoved Oikawa out the door,

“I think aliens are more probable than ghosts, honestly.”

A wide grin spread across Oikawa’s face while he locked the front door,

“I  _ love  _ aliens.” he said, turning to Iwaizumi with a passionate gleam in his eye,

“Oh jesus,” he had to look away from all that sparkle, “did I just open something?”

He glanced up at the sky and nodded,

“Yep. You really did,” he stared at the clouds, “... Do you ever skate solely for fun, Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi froze trying to process the question, caught off guard with how Oikawa had gone from lighthearted quips to serious questions without skipping a beat. He stood silent, staring straight ahead with his eyebrows furrowed. Practice was fun, wasn’t it? No, that was work. He tried to remember the last time he went out and skated around his neighborhood, it must’ve been years ago. He used to skate while his mom rode her bike alongside him, that was fun. How old had he been when he stopped doing that?

Why was this kid making him question his inner motivations?

“No, not really,” he finally said.

“Come here tomorrow night,” Oikawa said, “we can skate just for fun.”

Iwaizumi was too caught up in interrogating himself to decline,

“Sure,” he said, then muttered, “I… I have to get home.”

“Have a nice night,” Oikawa said as Iwaizumi turned and began walking out of the parking lot and towards the sidewalk that led to his neighborhood, “don’t think about that question too much! You might hurt your brain!”

That snapped him out of his internal crisis, and he whipped around and stuck his tongue out at Oikawa, who did the same before walking his own way.

Once Iwaizumi was home he looked into their small storage space under the stairs and saw his mother’s bicycle, covered in dust. He stared at it with a tight grip on the doorknob, thinking he could probably figure out how to fix it up, replace the chain, readjust the seat, clean away the rust, and then he and his mom could go out again. It would be nice. Just the two of them. Like when he was younger. 

Iwaizumi shut the door and decided to go to sleep instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeehaw sorry this is later in the evening i just got off work  
> warning: im gonna be pushing a fair amount of angst in this story. it hurts me to write :(   
> thank you to lu my very best friend for ur continued support <3
> 
>  
> 
> tumblr: @kahzehaya  
> twitter: @citgomode
> 
> p.s i didnt do a lot of editing in this chapter sorry fhjkdhfjkajk i might come and revisit it


	5. Chapter 5

He was having fun.

He had left practice, gone home, eaten a quick and quiet meal with his mom, and then suddenly, he was back on the rink, but this night was different. He wasn’t pushing himself forward until he felt his breath burning in the back of his throat, he wasn’t hunched over, branching himself for impact, he was simply gliding along at a steady, slow pace that felt unknown to his muscles. The loud music, the shining lights, the groups of people shakily making their way around him, it was an environment he hadn’t experienced in years, and the vague familiarity of it all was throwing his mind through a loop. He hadn’t gone to a ‘free-skate’ night since before he started roller derby, when he used to come alone and skate while his mom sat on the side, busying herself with sensitive material Iwaizumi knew about, but never asked about.

Flash forward ten years and he wasn’t alone any longer. There was someone keeping pace with him. Skating on his left was his new…friend, Oikawa, who was quickly moving his hands around in wild gestures, telling an elaborate school story while moving along effortlessly on his skates,

“And poof!” Oikawa threw his arms over his head, “Half his eyebrows burnt off. I’m still not entirely sure if it was my fault or his… Probably mine when I think about it.”

Iwaizumi snorted and covered his mouth to muffle a laugh, and Oikawa shot him a grin,

“I hope you’re laughing at the situation and not at me,”

“A little bit of both,” Iwaizumi said, “thank God I’m not your lab partner,”

“You may have dodged a bullet,” Oikawa shrugged, “are you a big science person, Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi ran his tongue over his front teeth in thought,

“I guess? It’s interesting at least, I did pretty good in biology.”

Oikawa spun and began skating backwards to be able to face Iwaizumi, eyes shining,

“Does your school have astronomy?”

Iwaizumi was caught up in his intense stare and felt as if all the lights in the room had suddenly shifted to illuminate only him,

“Uh… I,” he swallowed awkwardly, “not that I know of, I think we talked about it a little during my first year,”

Oikawa sighed wishfully,

“I wish we talked about it, I really—” 

Oikawa stopped with a quick glance over his shoulder, a little girl had slipped and was slowly correcting herself, but Oikawa’s caution didn’t stop Iwaizumi from running into him. The collision wasn’t especially intense, but standing upright and running into another person was completely different than running into someone while hunched over. 

Their shoulders checked and Iwaizumi hopelessly grabbed out to his right in hopes of catching himself on the outside wall, but found they had moved too far towards the center for him to be saved by. He was used to falling with the help of knee and elbow pads to cushion his landing, and now when he was without them he felt a spark of panic in his mind. He was falling backwards at an angle, ready to land on his elbow which would most certainly bruise immediately afterwards. 

Iwaizumi saw a glance of the ceiling as he tipped backwards and set his expression to a grimace in anticipation for the pain of impact, he expected to hit the rink.

He didn’t expect to feel an arm wrap around his waist and swiftly pull him in. 

“Be more careful Iwa-chan!”

Iwaizumi refocused his eyes on the boy in front of him. His hair had caught one of the overhead lights and was giving him almost a halo of an appearance, softening what few sharp edges he had and making him angelic. Iwaizumi wondered if he had somehow ended up in heaven just from busting his ass on a roller skating rink.

His thought process was broken by Oikawa’s laugh,

“Good thing I caught you, wouldn’t want any of your fans to see you fall during a freeskate.”

Iwaizumi flushed,

“Shut up,” he muttered, hyper aware of how Oikawa’s fingers were still gripping his sides as he steadied himself, “I don’t have fans.”

“Trust me, I’m not the only one,” Oikawa let go of Iwaizumi waist, “actually, let’s take a break. I want to show you something.” 

Iwaizumi nodded wordlessly and followed as Oikawa exited the rink and quickly changed from skates into a pair of slip on shoes,

“Y’know Iwa-chan, we didn’t finish our conversation from yesterday!”

“Oh,” Iwaizumi’s stomach sank when he thought back to the heavy question Oikawa had presented him with the previous day, “about skat–“

“About aliens,” Oikawa cut him off with a smile. 

Iwaizumi felt relieved, but still he stomach was twisting and turning in ways he hadn’t felt before. Spending too much time with this boy was dangerous for his health. 

The way Oikawa walked gave off an air of ownership, like he had suddenly bought the rink for his use only. His steps were confident and he didn’t hesitate as he led Iwaizumi down a hallway parallel to the rink. 

Without blinking, Oikawa reached up and disconnected a fire escape alarm and pushed open a door that Iwaizumi was  _ sure  _ he wasn’t supposed to. Oikawa opened his phone flashlight and barely illuminated the first five stairs of what Iwaizumi assumed was a large staircase.

“Um,” Iwaizumi hesitated at the first step, “where are we going?”

“The roof, you can see the stars decently from there,” Oikawa said, continuing on the stairs, “I promise I’m not taking you somewhere secluded to kill you.”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and tried not to let loud creaking beneath his feet scare him as he walked. He hoped the stairs were up to safety code. 

When Oikawa stepped onto the roof, he stretched his arms high above his head and took a deep breath,

“I know it’s only two stories but the air feels so much better up here,” he plopped down and tilted his head back to stare at the sky. It wasn’t completely dark just yet. The sun was behind the horizon but not far enough away to stop casting light into the sky. If Iwaizumi squinted he could see a handful of stars just above him. 

“So…” he sat down next to Oikawa, “aliens.”

Oikawa laughed without moving his eyes away,

“We’ll get there. What do you know about stars, Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi shrugged,

“Not anything, really… They’re on fire?”

“Oh Iwa-chan,” Oikawa turned to look at him with eyes full of glittering excitement, “you are going to learn  _ so  _ much.”

Iwaizumi’s face felt like it was burning. Oikawa lowered himself to lay on his back and began ranting on about complex science terms Iwaizumi had no idea what they meant. 

“So imagine a ball of gas that’s just getting hotter and hotter until it collapses…”

Iwaizumi laid down next to him and did his best to listen and absorb the words, but he was never able to process the information fully before Oikawa was moving onto another topic, waving his hands around and speaking more like he was performing than just talking. All he could do was glance from Oikawa’s animated expression to the night sky above them and let the memory sink into his skin. He didn’t do this kind of thing often, where he would just sit with one other friend and relax. Iwaizumi was used to hanging out in groups of people, where the attention never focused on completely on him for too long. But with Oikawa it was different. The only thing keeping a scorching spotlight off of Iwaizumi was the stars and Oikawa’s apparent obsession with space as a whole. He slowly raised a hand to point above himself,

“That’s probably the easiest constellation to spot,” he said, “Orion and Orion’s belt. See? The three stars in a line.”

Iwaizumi squinted, a lot of stars seemed like they were in a line, how was Oikawa telling them apart?

He raised his own hand and pointed at a strand of stars,

“Those?”

Oikawa laughed and gently grabbed Iwaizumi’s wrist, moving it to the right,

“Over here,” he scooted himself to press his shoulders against Iwaizumi’s, and craned his neck to try and align their perspectives.

Iwaizumi stilled. He could feel the soft hairs from Oikawa’s head brushing against his cheek, the warmth of his hand wrapped around his wrist, the friction of their t-shirts rubbing together. The spotlight Oikawa had so steadily fixed on the sky shifted to Iwaizumi and he was burning alive. 

“Oh, I... I see it now,” he lied in a voice that barely rose about a whisper, “... cool.”

He turned his head towards Oikawa and found the taller boy had changed from looking at the sky to staring at him with an expression Iwaizumi couldn’t read. He was staring him down, but Iwaizumi got the feeling he was being analyzed with eyes that bordered on looking almost cold. 

Regardless of what he let on, Iwaizumi could tell that Oikawa Tooru was always thinking. Even in the rare moments when he was quiet, the gears were turning nonstop. Iwaizumi couldn’t stop the soft shudder that went through him, covering his arms in goosebumps.

Oikawa blinked and looked away from Iwaizumi’s face, 

“Are you cold?” He said, sitting up and untying the purple jacket from around his waist, “Here.”

Iwaizumi pushed himself up on his elbows and accepted the jacket without thinking, 

“Th… thank you,” he stared at the lapel of the jacket and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, holding onto a beat of silence before finding the words, “... is this an ice skate?”

Oikawa let himself dramatically fall back down, lacing his fingers together and placing them behind his head,

“Mhm, I used to ice skate.”

Iwaizumi laid back down and dropped the jacket over his chest as a makeshift blanket,

“... Used to?” He asked quietly, staring straight above him, not daring to look over again. 

Oikawa was quiet for a long time, pulling the two of them into an awkward silence that was accented by the sound of cicadas chirping in the distance. Iwaizumi felt like maybe he should apologize, but was cut off by a long sign coming from Oikawa.

“Used to. I hurt my knee during my second year of high school,”  he said, “I had to stop seriously skating after that.”

“I’m sorry,” Iwaizumi said, unable to think of any other condolences. Oikawa only waved a hand at him dismissively in response,

“No worries. It’s in the past now.”

“You…” Iwaizumi cleared his throat, trying to change the subject, “You went to my junior high, right?”

Oikawa chuckled,

“You remember me now?”

“Nope.” Iwaizumi shook his head with a small smile,

“Not even a little? I was pretty popular…”

“Nah.”

“At all? Never heard mentions of me? From anyone?”

“Am I hurting your pride when I say no?”

Oikawa let out a huff,

“A little!”

“I remember at the end of my third year hearing about a guy who got 100 confessions–”

“That was me!” Oikawa rolled onto his side to face Iwaizumi, “But it was only 10 confessions.”

“Yeah…” Iwaizumi mimicked Oikawa’s movement so the two were facing each other, then reached out and flicked his forehead, “That really pissed me off.”

Oikawa recoiled, pouting,

“What? Why?”

“Pretty boys always piss me off.”

The taller boy opened his eyes wide, staring like a deer caught in the headlights, before bursting out into laughter,

“Nice backhanded compliment, Iwa-chan!”

“It’s not a–” Iwaizumi blushed as he realized exactly what he had said, “Wh… Whatever. What school do you go to now, anyway? Almost everyone from our junior high went to Seijoh.”

Oikawa pointed at the jacket laid across Iwaizumi,

“Shiratorizawa. I got in on a scholarship for ice skating.” 

“ _ The  _ Shiratorizawa?” Iwaizumi’s eyes widened, “I heard it’s almost impossible to pass their entrance exam.”

“You have no idea, it’s insane–” Oikawa stopped to let out a yawn, “sorry, I stayed up too late last night.”

“You should get better sleep,”

“Are you my mom, Iwa-chan?”

Before Iwaizumi could answer, likely with punching Oikawa in the shoulder, he felt a soft vibration come from the pocket of Oikawa’s jacket and pulled out a phone. 

“No,” he said, handing the phone to Oikawa, “but she is.”

The taller boy groaned audibly and took the phone quickly, 

“Hi mo–,” he started, only to get cut off by rapid speaking on the other end. Iwaizumi couldn’t make out any of the words being said, but from the tone and Oikawa’s subtle grimances he could tell it wasn’t exactly a happy call. The sun had set, casting the two of them in a warm summer darkness, and only Oikawa’s face was slightly illuminated by the glow of his phone screen. Iwaizumi found it hard to pull his eyes away from how Oikawa’s was looking straight at the sky and biting at his bottom lip as his mother continued to talk, only ever responding with the occasional, “yes ma’am” or “no ma’am” before letting out a soft sign and hanging up with a quiet “I love you too.”

Oikawa rolled his eyes and sat up, running a hand through his hair,

“Sorry, I guess I should be getting home.”

Iwaizumi sat up as a cold lump formed in the pit of his stomach, and he realized how much he didn’t want this night to end. 

“We… We should do this again sometime,” he gently handed the jacket to Oikawa, “if you want.”

He looked surprised, from what Iwaizumi could see, and then smiled in a way that made Iwaizumi’s stomach flutter,

“Next Friday I’m working, but I’ll sneak you in and we can hang out.”

“Are you sure that’s allowed?”

Oikawa laughed as he stood up, giving a hand to Iwaizumi and pulling him up as well,

“It’ll be fun, so who cares?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how many iwaoi fics have a star gazing scene? probably too many
> 
> so sorry this is out so late!!! i got caught up with work and socializing! next chapter will be out friday :3c (19.07.19)  
> next chapter..... >:3c im very excited for that one
> 
> tumblr: @kahzehaya  
> twitter: @citgomode


	6. Chapter 6

_ One Week Later _

* * *

 

Iwaizumi imagined his uniform would have been more… flashy.

Instead, when Oikawa opened the side door of the rink that said in large letters ‘EMPLOYEES ONLY’ he was met with simplicity. He was only wearing black jeans with a black t-shirt tucked in, and a black belt around his waist with a walkie talkie clipped on to it. Only his shoes really stood out, a pristine white pair of sneakers that looked brand new. Iwaizumi didn’t know if he was overdressed or underdressed, wearing a short sleeve button up that had a black and green Hawaiian pattern, light blue jeans, and his usually pair of exercise sneakers that certainly did not look brand new.

“Someone looks like a father of three about to go on vacation,” Oikawa quipped, “but no cargo shorts to match, Iwa-chan?”

“Piss off,” Iwaizumi said back with a smirk, though he thought back to when he was at home deciding what to wear, and cargo shorts  _ had  _ been an option, “at least I don’t look like I’m running tech for a musical.”

Oikawa fake pouted, 

“So mean!” he said as he ushered Iwaizumi in and down a dark hallway, “I’m hurt that you’d think I was a theater kid.”

“You’re dramatic enough to be one.”

“I have absolutely NO idea what you’re talking about!”

Iwaizumi scoffed and rolled his eyes as Oikawa opened a heavy metal door labeled ‘STAIRS’ that groaned like it was in pain as it closed shut behind the two.

Iwaizumi suddenly felt like he was in a whole different building. The carpet of the stairs was different than the rest of the rink. Rather than the wild print covered in colorful shapes and swirls, it was a faded green dotted with stains and fraying threads.

“I promise it’s clean in here,” Oikawa said, scuffing at a stain with the tip of his shoe as they walked up, “just old stains.”

Iwaizumi shrugged,

“I trust you.”

Oikawa paused mid step and turned to face Iwaizumi, a confused but flattered expression on his face,

“Oh. Um, thank...s. Thank you.”

Iwaizumi took a beat to be confused himself, but then it clicked and his own face flushed,

“Sorry! That was weird, wasn’t it?”

Oikawa waved him off and cleared his throat,

“No! You’re fine!” He continued up the steps, “I… trust you too.”

Iwaizumi could only nod in reply, even if Oikawa didn’t see it. He didn’t trust his mouth to form the adequate words so he wouldn’t make a complete fool of himself. He could tell Oikawa was a generally confident person, but every so often he’d get stumped and he would let his true feelings slip through, like when he would suddenly be embarrassed and his cheeks would turn pink while he glanced away from Iwaizumi. Deep down, Iwaizumi thought those were his best expressions, but he didn’t process that thought consciously. 

“It’s not too much,” Oikawa said as they made it into the soundbooth, “but hey! It works.”

He gestured towards a small soundboard hooked up to an outdated desktop computer. He sat in front of the computer and shook the mouse, lighting up the screen to what Iwaizumi assumed was a program to control the lights of the rink. He stood awkwardly in the doorframe while Oikawa clicked away and typed a few things in, unsure of his place in the unfamiliar setting.

Without looking away from the screen, Oikawa gently patted the seat next to him that was placed in front of the soundboard. It wasn’t until Iwaizumi was sitting that he realized how close the chairs were together, their shoulders almost touching. He was hyper aware of the brush of Oikawa’s sleeve against his own, but made no attempt to move away. 

“Looks complicated,” Iwaizumi said as he examined all the buttons and sliders. Oikawa only smiled at him,

“It’s not too bad, most of it is already set, I just adjust the volume and make announcements from time to time.”

Iwaizumi glanced down at Oikawa’s smile, then quickly back up to his eyes. He wanted to say something witty in reply, something that showed he was fine. Normal. Calm. But all he could do was stare, unmoving.

“... Let me show you,” Oikawa said to break the silence. He opened a different program on the computer that displayed a playlist that extended down the whole screen. He clicked the shuffle button and then reached across Iwaizumi to the soundboard. He pressed a button labeled ‘computer aux’ and then gently raised the ‘external volume’ slider. Through the large glass window Iwaizumi could hear the muffled hum of music. He couldn’t make out any words, but the beat vibrated the booth and made him feel like he was experiencing the music just the same.

“... See?” Oikawa said in a surprisingly soft voice, looking up at Iwaizumi through his lashes before returning to his seat, “Easy. Anyone could do—”

A crackle of static suddenly filled the room and Iwaizumi had to make an effort not to jump. Oikawa pulled the walkie talkie off his belt and held it in front of him while a scratchy voice came through saying,

“Customers are about ready to come in, could you get the lights set?”

“Roger that!” Oikawa replied, gentle voice gone and replaced with his usual bright tone. The one Iwaizumi wasn’t sure if it was fake or not. He set the walkie talkie on the desk and fiddled with the lighting program until the rink was dimmed, spotlights and a disco ball replacing the plain overhead lights.

“Are you afraid of the dark, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa asked.

“No, wh—”

“Great!”

Oikawa clicked a button and the lights of the soundbooth shut off, leaving the two of them illuminated only by the glow of Oikawa’s computer screen.

“Oh, this is the best part. Watch.” He said, pointing out the window. Iwaizumi raised his eyebrows and looked straight ahead.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

A second of silence passed and then Iwaizumi saw half a dozen large, purple lights flicker on, making all the neon colors of the rink come to life. One shone into the soundbooth and he looked down to see the greens of his shirt glowing. It looked like he was straight out of a sci-fi movie. He knew there were blacklights in the rink of course, but he had never been so close to one. Oikawa laughed next to him,

“Your fingernails are glowing.”

Iwaizumi glanced up with a smile,

“Your teeth are glowing.”

“The whites of your eyes are glowing.”

“Your…” Iwaizumi looked him over for a moment, “... put your foot up to the light.”

Oikawa stretched a leg across Iwaizumi, holding it in the air. His white shoe caught the light and shone almost too brightly for them to look at straight on,

“Your shoe is glowing.”

Oikawa laughed again, a full chested laugh, and let his leg rest across Iwaizumi’s lap for a moment before pulling it back in front of him. Iwaizumi’s stomach felt hot but he was too distracted by laughing along with Oikawa to address his inner turmoil. 

 They watched people slowly fill up the rink, one by one. It was mostly families with small children and the occasional group of teenagers who spent more time pushing each other around than actually skating. Most of them were unsteady, shuffling their feet and laughing when they fell. Every so often Oikawa would point and say,

“Red shirt. Bad form. He’s going to hurt his back leaning like that.”

And Iwaizumi would roll his eyes,

“So judgy.”

“Maybe I’m concerned for his health!”

“Yeah right.”

He didn’t want to confront it, but there was something in that small soundbooth that was making his heart beat fast and loud in his chest. Was it the glowing lighting? The way the booth would heat it every time they broke into a fit of laughter? The content expression Oikawa held that he kept stealing glances at? The weight of Oikawa’s leg in his lap? The way he felt suddenly cold when his leg was gone?

He knew he felt happy. A different kind of happy than what he felt when he was with Matsukawa and Maki. There was an intimacy he felt in Oikawa’s laugh as well as his silence.

Happiness, intimacy, what else? What was inducing such a restless panic in him?

“You alright there, Mr. Grumpy Face?” Oikawa said, turning away from the window to look at Iwaizumi.

“Huh?” He looked down and saw his arms crossed tight against his chest, “Oh.”

“You know if you scowl too much your face will get stuck like that.”

Oikawa stuck out his tongue and winked, teasing Iwaizumi before breaking into one of his wide smiles. 

Always that smile.

It clicked.

Happiness, intimacy, and one last feeling he finally found the right word for, no matter how embarrassed it made him feel when it echoed around his brain.

Yearning.

He uncrossed his arms and let one hand land on Oikawa’s thigh. The taller boy froze, Iwaizumi could feel the muscles under his hand tense, and his brown eyes looked from the hand on his leg into Iwaizumi’s own. His breath felt caught in his throat but he forced himself to speak,

“Oikawa I—”

It really felt like he had been slapped. Two hands were on either side of his face, his cheeks stinging from the force of their impact, and he was being pulled forward, getting dragged halfway out of his own chair before he could even register what was suddenly happening to him. His heart sped faster than he knew it could, and after being smacked and yanked, Oikawa was gentle when he pressed his lips against Iwaizumi’s.

The hands on either side of his face changed from grabbing him to cupping his cheeks as he kissed Oikawa back, reaching forward and balling his fist in the black fabric of his shirt. When Oikawa pulled his lips away he was still holding Iwaizumi’s face, and Iwaizumi was still gripping his shirt. Neither of them moved, but sat holding each other, letting their breath mix before Oikawa leaned forward and kissed him again, harder, letting himself linger this time and move his hands up into Iwaizumi’s hair, pulling him closer. He fell into the touch of Oikawa’s hands and the feeling of his soft lips against his own and completely forgot what he wanted to say in the first place. All he could feel was his heart drumming in his chest and the light scratch from Oikawa’s nails against his scalp. 

Iwaizumi tightened his grip on Oikawa’s shirt as he kissed him back, tilting his head to let their lips slide together. It all felt sudden, but deep in his mind he knew he had been waiting. Waiting for the closeness of another person, the feeling of being whole, of not being alone. And with Oikawa he felt warmth that was shockingly familiar, as if Iwaizumi had known him for years rather than only a handful of weeks. He radiated off a sense of home and comfort that Iwaizumi wanted more than he had ever wanted anything else. 

When Oikawa broke away he kept his eyes downcast as he pulled his hands out of Iwaizumi’s hair, almost sheepishly. His face was flushed, pink spreading to the tips of his ears and burning his cheeks. He curled his hand into a loose fist and brushed his knuckles tenderly over his own lips before breaking into a bashful smile that made Iwaizumi’s breathing all but stop. He didn’t know what to say, or if should say anything at all. He did know, that in that moment, he loathed the cheap metal chairs they were sitting in, and wished for something that would allow them to sit closer. He had been touch starved for years without even realizing it. 

“I—” Iwaizumi tried, only to have Oikawa interrupt him, whispering,

“You don’t have to say anything.”

“But—” 

“Can I kiss you again?”

Iwaizumi could only nod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaa ive been so excited to post this chapter fhkdhfka   
> writing this made me yearn so badly....... >///>   
> i might be starting to do every other week updates... so sorry in advance for that lol. I have the whole fic planned out already, it's just the writing part thats hard -_-''
> 
> tumblr: @kahzehaya  
> twitter: @citgomode
> 
> thank you for reading!!! i hope yall liked it :3c


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